


Return

by InvisibleSilence



Series: A Mother's Choice [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Voldemort Wins, Assassin Harry Potter, Assassin Hermione Granger, Assassin Luna Lovegood, BAMF Harry Potter, BAMF Hermione Granger, BAMF Luna Lovegood, Children, F/M, Family Feels, Family Secrets, Female Harry Potter, General Harry Potter, Good Voldemort, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Torture, Sane Voldemort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-01
Updated: 2018-12-21
Packaged: 2018-12-22 17:08:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11971845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InvisibleSilence/pseuds/InvisibleSilence
Summary: It has been fifteen years since Valerie Potter gave up her life to raise her children as Holly Hart.  Her life is calm now.  Her children are in their fifth year of Hogwarts when a kidnapping heralds the return of the Girl-Who-Lived to the Wizarding World.





	1. Kidnapping

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the long-awaited sequel to "The Decision". This has actually been up on FF.net for a while, but I figured I should probably put it over here. The second chapter is not done yet, but I will never abandon it.

Holly had just finished piecing together the craft her kindergarteners were going to make when someone knocked on the door.

"Just a moment!" she called, moving into the bathroom to wash the glue and glitter off her hands.

She opened the door and had to hide her shock at the sight of Severus Snape, dressed pristinely in a mundane suit and tie.

"May I help you?" she asked, struggling to stay cheerful.

"Are you Holly Hart?" he asked.

"Indeed I am. You are?"

"Ms. Hart, I am Severus Snape..."

"What's happened to Brax and Lucy?" she cut in, her voice cold and fierce.

Unlike most, Snape appeared unaffected by her ferocity.

"Young Miss Hart was kidnapped by the rebel forces that plague our world. They are usually non-violent, but they took Miss Hart due to her closeness with our Headmaster, the Dark Lord Voldemort. He has taken Miss Hart as a protégée of sorts, and the rebels sought to either harm the Dark Lord or gain information by capturing her," Snape explained.

Holly took a deep breath to avoid exploding.

"Why don't you come in, Professor?" she offered. "I need to grab a few things and make a call, and then I will accompany you to Hogwarts."

"Mundanes aren't allowed..." Snape began, but Holly cut him off.

"My daughter has been kidnapped, Professor," she said sharply. "I will stay with my son until his sister is found." Her tone brooked no argument.

She swept out of the room and into the hallway. With a flick of her wrist, her wand was released from its permanent home in her forearm holster. She waved it with her right hand, Summoning her emergency bag, while dialing her boss's number with her left.

"Hello, Headmaster Wright...This is Holly Hart. Something's happened to my daughter, so I need to go to the twins' school up in Scotland. I don't know how long I'll be gone, but my lesson plans for the next two months are in my desk....The school is rather isolated, so I doubt you'll be able to contact me. Thank you for understanding...I'll see you sometime."

By the time her call was done, she had checked and repacked her emergency bag, picked it up, and sheathed her wand. She returned to the parlor and said, "I'm ready to go."

Snape stood and offered her a piece of yarn.

"This is a Portkey. Hold onto it, and it will transport us to our destination: the Headmaster's office."

Holly grabbed her end of the yarn.

Snape looked her in the eye and stated, "Princess".

The world swirled around them, and suddenly they were in the Headmaster's office. Holly landed in a kneeling position, as she usually did. It was the only way she had found that would keep her from falling on her face.

The room was full of people, most of whom Holly recognized, and all of them turned to stare at their arrival. Holly only had eyes for the red-eyed man at the back of the room, behind a wide ebony desk.

The office was similar to Dumbledore's - it had the same bookshelves and portraits of the former Heads' - but the numerous silver knick-knacks had been replaced with various elaborate gifts and Dark artifacts. There was one heavily warded cabinet with darkened glass and a magical lock, but Holly could faintly make out a silver trimmed picture that Brax and Lucy had given Tom for Christmas almost a decade before.

Holly rose gracefully to her feet and stalked to the front of the room. Everyone moved out of her way, somehow sensing her anger would not be deterred, and unwilling to stand between her and her target.

She placed her hands on the ebony wood and leaned over the desk. She had a smile on her face, but her eyes were cold and promised death.

"Tell me, Headmaster," she asked, nearly purring. "Why has my daughter gone missing while under your care?"

Voldemort winced almost imperceptibly.

"Holly..."

"HOW COULD YOU ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN, YOU SNAKE-FACED SON OF A SQUIB?! I TRUSTED you to protect them! I gave up EVERYTHING to protect them, and you allowed my daughter to be KIDNAPPED by imbecilic Gryffindors while under your protection! How could you?" she cried out.

She could feel the tears rolling down her cheeks, but she was still too furious to feel upset.

Her voice turned frosty as she adopted a more formal tone.

"Thomas Marvolo Riddle, also known as the Dark Lord Voldemort, now known as Marvolo Slytherin: have you kept your oath? Have you protected my children as you swore you would?" she asked.

He sighed.

"I have not," he intoned.

"Can you hold me to my oath, when you have broken yours?" she asked.

"I cannot," Voldemort replied. He flicked his fingers and a silencing barrier went up around them. He took her right hand in his. "Valerie Lillian Potter-Black, Lady of the Most Ancient and Noble Houses of Potter and Black, now known as Holly Faith Hart," - He flicked his fingers again, bringing the silencing ward down -“ "I release you from your oath."

Three golden threads appeared around their clasped hands. One unwound itself and faded away.

Voldemort huffed.

"Now that we've finished that, can we skip the part where you curse me into oblivion and move on to the point where we find your daughter?"

Holly thought a moment.

"We can _postpone_ the part where I curse you into oblivion until after Lucy is safe with me," she relented.

Voldemort nodded and gestured to the chair at his right. Holly took it with grace, her eyes darting around the room, assessing everyone in sight with the precision she had never lost after being a war general. She recognized Snape, all three Malfoys, Rabastan Lestrange - she'd taken care of Bellatrix and Rodolphus herself - Theodore Nott, Blaise Zabini, both sets of Carrow twins, Marcus Flint, Pansy Parkinson, Adrian Pucey, and Daphne Greengrass.

"My lord?" Flint asked. "Who's she?"

"This is Ms. Holly Hart, Lucinda and Braxton Hart's mother," Voldemort introduced.

"I thought they were mundane-born," Blaise said. "In fact, I distinctly remember a seven-hour interrogation on everything in the Wizarding World."

Holly shrugged apathetically.

"I needed an excuse as to why I knew so much about the Wizarding World," she said.

"But why keep your magic hidden? Do your children even know?" Snape asked, pinpointing the heart of the conversation, as usual.

"They do not," Holly said.

"Then why?" Snape persisted.

Holly looked to Voldemort for help.

"Miss Hart was a former Resistance fighter who was captured by the Dark Order," Voldemort explained. "In our routine scans, it was discovered that she was pregnant. I offered her a deal: renounce magic and change her identity, as well as swearing not to fight me or mine, and I would let her leave with her child."

"I accepted, on the grounds that he swore to protect my children since I couldn't. Lucy's kidnapping allows me my magic and my name back."

"How can we trust her, if she's former Resistance?" Theodore Nott said.

"My wife is former Resistance," Blaise said coolly. "Are you questioning her loyalties, Theodore?"

"Of course not," Theodore replied. "I'm questioning those of the person we've never met!"

"I am well-acquainted with Ms. Hart, and I fully vouch for her loyalties," Voldemort said. "Are you questioning me, Mr. Nott?"

"Of course not, my Lord," he said hurriedly.

"I swore an oath on my life and magic," Holly reminded them. "Besides, I was never a member of a Resistance. I was in the Order of the Phoenix."

Lucius' mouth dropped open.

"That's even worse!" Pansy Parkinson exclaimed.

Holly waved her hand lazily.

"Not the issue now, Parkinson...or whatever your last name is now. I've proven my loyalty to the Dark Lord; I've done missions for the Dark Order, and I have passed along information about the Order of the Phoenix...I'm an idiot. What do your spies know about Lucy?"

Voldemort looked towards Snape.

"She was kidnapped in order to hurt the Dark Lord. They are not planning to kill or torture her, nor will they use Legilimency against her. The only Order members capable of it were myself, Dumbledore, Potter, and Granger. I won't do it, Dumbledore and Potter are dead, and Granger hasn't liked the Resistance since Potter died and Lovegood left. The only reason she's still with the Resistance is Potter's death. No one's seen her in weeks, though."

"She's currently in my dungeons," Voldemort said nonchalantly.

Holly forced herself to ignore it.

"Any idea on location?" she asked.

Snape's lip curled.

"Unfortunately, they decided that she was a high enough security prisoner that she was taken to the old Order Headquarters. It was mostly abandoned after Potter's death, since no new members could be allowed in, but the death of the Secret Keeper prevents us from getting in. Unlike Dumbledore, Potter never wrote it down. Everyone was told verbally. Can you get in?" he asked Holly.

She nodded, not seeing the need to elaborate.

"That means three of you can currently enter," Voldemort noted.

Holly's brow furrowed.

"Who's the third?"

At that moment, the door opened, and a dreamy blonde floated in. She pressed a quick kiss to Blaise's cheek then flew over to Holly, wrapping her in a hug.

Holly laughed and wrapped her arms around the blonde.

"I missed you too, Luna. I'd forgotten you were here."

"As soon as the nargles told me you were here, I finished feeding the thestrals and came up," she replied.

"Is your husband treating you well?" Holly asked, smiling warmly at her friend while levelling a death glare at Blaise, who gulped.

Luna Lovegood-Zabini hummed.

"We're very happy," she confirmed. "Our twins, Helios and Selene, are in their third year, while our youngest, Alessandra, is in her first. I was very sorry to hear about Sara. She and Cedric are two of my favorite students. They are quite good in Care. Since you're back now, are we going to go hunting soon? I always did enjoy our hunts."

Holly's smile was positively feral, despite the apparent non sequitur.

"What a marvelous idea, Luna. We simply need to fetch our final piece from Voldemort's dungeons, and we can go hunting scorched chickens."

"Exactly. And that means you wouldn't have to ask for your necklace back."

Holly froze, then sighed ruefully.

"Of course you know about that. Do you still have yours?"

"I wear it every day," Luna said, pulling out a necklace of a white phoenix from under her robes. It had scarlet eyes, and the feathers were edged in black.

"Order of the Phoenix necklaces?" Voldemort asked, intrigued.

"We didn't like the idea of branding our compatriots, so we handed out necklaces instead," Holly snarked. "They were charmed to only be worn if they were freely given. They were the keys through certain words, and sometimes certain doors. I knew of at least a hundred passageways in Hogwarts that could only be opened by a pendant."

"They're still there," Luna mentioned. "That was how the Order managed to hide so well during the Second Battle of Hogwarts. They were using the tunnels to get around. I cleared them out during the battle, and I have charms up to let me know if anyone uses them."

Voldemort twitched a nonexistent eyebrow.

"And why did neither of you mention these before now?"

"You didn't ask," the women said in unison.

"What happened to your necklace?" Narcissa Malfoy asked. "Since Luna said you need to ask for it back."

Holly tensed at the question.

"I gave it to someone I cared very much for, many years ago," she said quietly. "I was afraid that he would be hurt if our relationship was discovered. I was a known Order member; I was wanted by the Death Eaters. I gave him my necklace and told him the password to the portkey. The last time I saw him, we argued rather fiercely, and I stormed out before either of us said anything about the necklace. I was captured three days later and declared dead a week after that. I can only assume he still has it somewhere, though it's quite possible he threw it out."

"You said you were a known Order member," Adrian Pucey sad. "You said you gave up your name, but you can take it back now. What is it? Do we know you? What is your name?"

Holly smiled ruefully, and held both of her hands above the table, revealing the silver and gold braided ring on her right hand. She twisted it back and forth with her other hand.

"You do know me. In fact, I have met most of you personally and killed several of your relatives."

"An Order member who kills?" Rabastan scoffed. "Are you sure you knew Dumbledore?"

"Which is why we didn't tell him when we were planning to kill people off," Luna said idly. "We disguised ourselves and used a time-turner to make it so we were never missing."

"Yes, we were quite feared among your ranks, or so Lord Voldemort told me," Holly said with a smile. "Three assassins, in hooded cloaks with daggers at their waists. Each wearing a different color, red, black, and white."

"The Morrígan," Narcissa Malfoy breathed in elated horror.

"Indeed," Holly smirked. "You knew me then as Badb. Luna here was Macha. But the name you knew me best by was..." she began, visibly removing the ring from her finger. Her appearance shimmered as the bones in her face moved, giving her the sharp, elegant features shared by many purebloods. Her blonde hair lengthened into silky black tresses with dark red highlights while her grey-blue eyes transformed into luminous jewels the same shade of green as the Killing Curse.

"Valerie Potter," Lucius said, sounding resigned.

"I'd wondered if you were one of the Morrígan," Voldemort said idly. "Your fighting style was familiar. Now that you've revealed your identity, can you tell us the Secret to the Order's Headquarters?"

"Actually, I can't," Holly said. "In order to prevent my revealing the Secret under duress or Legilimency attack, we managed to alter the spell to add conditions for revealing the Secret. I have to reveal it verbally, and I have to be holding my phoenix necklace."

"The necklace you no longer have," Voldemort sighed. "How did you share the Secret if you didn't have the necklace?"

"I asked for it back," Holly shrugged. "The person I gave it to assumed that I was supposed to wear it to certain Order meetings, and the Order knew I usually didn't wear that necklace. It had other enchantments attacked to it, things that would be dangerous if they were in enemy hands. I had another necklace, a basic one, for a while, but I eventually had a tattoo done that functioned as one of the regular pendants."

"Several of us had one," Luna nodded. "Valerie's looked like Fawkes, but the rest of us got black and red phoenixes with bright green eyes. We wanted to remember who we were fighting for."

"But that's over now," Holly said with an air of finality. "I couldn't care less about the remnants of the vaunted Order, except for the fact they _**kidnapped my daughter**_."

Her harsh tone brought them back to the matter at hand.

"What can you tell us about the Order headquarters?"" Voldemort asked.

"I can't be specific, but I can answer indirect questions," Holly revealed. "I own the property. It's a pureblood townhouse that I inherited after the Battle in the Department of Mysteries in 1995. I can probably draw a map of the layout and still be within the Charm's restrictions."

"Sirius Black died in that Battle, did he not?" Voldemort asked shrewdly.

"He did," Holly nodded, smirking slightly.

"Sirius Black was your godfather?" he asked.

"Indeed," Holly said.

"The Black family townhouse," Narcissa gasped. Her surprise quickly turned to anger. "Those filthy blood-traitors dared to use the house of my forefathers for a meeting-place!" she fumed.

Holly winced slightly at the screech.

"Careful, Lady Malfoy, for you are beginning to emulate your aunt," she chided. "Her portrait yelled the same things at us every time we entered the house. I eventually developed a runic silencing barrier, just to keep her quiet. However, it deteriorated every year or so, so the Order is probably suffering."

"Aunt Walburga always did have a good set of lungs on her, didn't she?" Narcissa mused.

Voldemort winced.

"There was one time in school when a bunch of seventh-years were bullying Alphard. She started in on them and they fell to pieces. Then she took her wand out."

"That blasted house-elf of yours is still around," Snape noted. "He won't listen to anyone but Granger, oddly enough, and sometimes the Lupin boy and his grandmother."

"Now that is helpful information," Holly said. "Before we go any further, I need to know exactly how Lucy was kidnapped."

"We don't entirely know yet," Draco said, speaking up for the first time. "She had been meeting with different teachers about advanced work. She had seemed so bored in my class that I recommended she sit the OWL at Christmas and do an independent study project for the rest of the year. She liked the idea so much, she said she was going to speak to her other teachers about it."

"We didn't know anything was wrong until Brax came up to the Head Table to say that Lucy never showed up for dinner. They always eat dinner together," Voldemort said.

"I told them to not to let themselves grow apart if they were in different Houses. I recommended they eat dinner together as often as they could," Holly said. "None of the teachers reported seeing Lucy since Malfoy?"

"No," Daphne Greengrass said. "None of us saw her."

"Have they been interrogated yet?" Holly asked, a vicious smirk crossing her lips.

"Not yet," Voldemort replied, a similar smirk on his face.

"Snape can help too," Holly said. "There's sixteen teachers and three of us. That's not very even."

"Do you know any other Legilimens?" Voldemort asked sarcastically.

"As a matter of fact, I do. Are your dungeons still in the same place?" Holly asked.

"Yes."

"Am I still keyed into the Apparition wards?" she asked.

"Just the entry hall," he replied.

"Great! Round up the other teachers; I'll be right back."

Just to irritate Voldemort, as a small revenge, she Apparated directly out of his office to Voldemort's entry hall. She paused a moment to orient herself in the massive manor before taking off for the dungeons.

It was on the top floor of the dungeons, which was the nicest of the four, that she found her quarry.

"Hermione?" she called to the reading woman. There was a stack of books taller than a house-elf beside her. She did not look up.

"You cannot trick me that easily, Voldemort. I am more than aware that Valerie is dead," she commented, idly turning her page.

"Valerie may be dead, but Badb lives on as Holly Hart. I need Nemain, Hermione," Holly said.

That caused the bookworm to look up. Intelligent brown eyes searched her face, and Holly felt a prod at her Occlumency shields.

Hermione's eyes widened.

"Valerie?"

Holly smiled weakly.

"It's Holly now, but yes."

Hermione waited until Holly had opened the cell door, then threw herself at her friends, hugging her tightly.

Finally, Hermione pulled back and examined her friend's face.

"What's wrong?" she asked, perceptive as always.

"Did you hear any rumors, in the Order, about possibly kidnapping Voldemort's protégée?" Holly asked.

"A few months ago, Weasley brought it up during a meeting, but I shot it down. We don't kidnap children, or we risk our own being held at Hogwarts. Weasley argued that she was a Muggle-born so it didn't matter. I shot him down still. Muggle-born or not, that's still someone's daughter."

"Not just someone's daughter," Holly said. "My daughter."

Hermione froze.

"So that's why you left! You were pregnant!"

"I didn't know it until Voldemort captured me. One of their scans discovered it. Voldemort offered me a deal: I swore not to fight him, and I swore to not reveal my name or magic to anyone, and Voldemort swore to protect me and my children. He broke his vow when Lucy was kidnapped by the Resistance, so I can be myself again."

"So you're here to ask me to switch sides and help you find your daughter?" Hermione deduced.

"We have teachers to interrogate as well, and sixteen just isn't equally divisible by three," Holly added.

"I won't swear myself to Voldemort, but I'm already sworn to you," Hermione said. "Get me my wand and a shower, and I'll be ready."

"You'll also need your Morrígan cloak," Holly said.

"It's still attached to my wand holster," Hermione assured.

It took a few minutes of searching to find Hermione's wand in Voldemort's massive office. Hermione used the time to shower in Holly's former bathroom and change into her Morrígan robes. Holly hurriedly changed into hers as well, knowing that Luna would already be dressed as Macha.

Less than fifteen minutes after her arrival, Holly Apparated herself and Hermione back into the Headmaster's office. Luna was there in her white robes, clasped with a ruby pin carved into the symbol of the Triple Goddess. Stitched on the back of her robes was a black phoenix. Holly's red robes had the same in white, while her robes were clasped with an onyx symbol. Hermione's black robes had red stitching and a pearl clasp.

Voldemort and the Death Eaters were still in the office, which appeared larger than it had been before she left. All the teachers were there as well, and everyone stared as the Morrígan three stood together.

Holly could tell Voldemort was impressed, though he tried to hide it.

"You brought back your pet?" he snarked.

"She's gone toe-to-toe with you before," Holly pointed out. "But she has switched sides. Nemain, Voldemort. Voldemort, Nemain. Have you divided the teachers into groups?"

"We were just waiting on you to begin," the Dark Lord replied. "You have Professors Zabini, Lovegood, and Towler."

The name stirred a memory from her days as co-leader of the Order. Fred and George had brought one of their former roommates, Kenneth Towler, to be inducted to the Order. His task was to be a long-term sleeper agent in Voldemort's forces...

Holly turned quickly to the brown-haired man and met his eyes. It took only seconds to pierces his Occlumency shields. Strong as they were, her anger was stronger.

The first thing she found was a burning hatred for the Dark Order. A moment's digging found the reason why. Kenneth's younger sister, Eva, had been in Valerie's year at Hogwarts, though they didn't know each other well. Eva had usually hung out with Fay Dunbar and Lily Moon, before leaving after OWLs. Her reasons for leaving were evident. Apparently, Eva had been raped by Miles Bletchley, Vincent Crabbe, and Gregory Goyle during the height of Umbridge's reign. All three offenders had gone on to be Death Eaters.

Holly rifled through until she found Kenneth's Order induction and mission. He had never attended Order or Resistance meetings, but had instead been sent coded communiqués detailing his assignments.

The next thing she saw chilled her to the bone. Lucy, her beautiful Lucy, had entered the office, Prefect's badge gleaming on her collar. Towler had greeted her, and then drawn his wand behind his back. As Lucy had chattered animatedly, Towler struck out. He didn't Stun her as Holly expected. No, he Petrified her.

Then, to her horror, he leaned down and snarled in her ear, "This is for my sister, you Death Eater whore."

Holly forced herself to watch the entire, brutal scene, as the man before her heartlessly raped her fifteen-year-old daughter. When it was over, the man spelled her so she could not speak of what had occurred.

Upon delivering her to the Order, he had explained away the damage by saying she had put up a fight. She watched as Towler handed Lucy over to Ron Weasley, who looked at her the same way he used to look at Valerie, the look that had ended their close friendship.

Holly swore to herself to end Ronald Weasley's life in the most painful way possible.

She pulled out of Towler's mind, and her magic lashed out, pinning him to the wall without any input from a wand.

"You vile piece of filth," she hissed, nearly slipping into Parseltongue in her anger. "I swear by the Goddess that your death will be the most painful thing I can imagine. I will bring you as close to death as humanly possible, and then, just when you think you'll receive the sweet release of death, I'll heal you. I'll do it again, and again, bringing you almost to death and back until I feel that you've suffered enough for what you did. Then, I'll hand you over to Voldemort, and he happens to be quite fond of his goddaughter."

"The bitch deserved it," Towler growled, despite the fear in his eyes.

"Deserved it? No one deserves that, except possibly the people who inflict that pain on others. She's a fifteen-year-old girl, the same age your sister was. Your sister killed herself because of the shame and disgust she felt about herself. Others survived and kept going, but that feeling of dirtiness will never go away. You have condemned her to never feel clean again, so I'm going to make sure you never feel anything but pain again!" Holly growled.

A push of her magic, and Towler was screaming and writhing against the wall as her magic forced pain through every nerve ending on his body. A twist of her wrist brought her wand to her hand, and a muttered spell had every bone in his extremities being slowly ground into powder.

Everyone else watched in varying degrees of shock. Voldemort and Luna were the least affected, as they knew her best of those there. Hermione was the next least affected, as she knew what she had been capable of before. The Death Eaters and teachers were the ones truly in shock at the barbaric display.

"I would assume that this is our culprit?" Voldemort asked casually, flicking a silencing charm at the screaming wizard.

Holly flashed him a malicious smile.

"I'm afraid you're going to need a new Ancient Runes professor. Hermione?"

"Yes?" the woman replied.

"You have a Mastery in Ancient Runes, don't you? Holly asked.

"Yes..."

Holly looked at Voldemort and forced her emotions on the subject towards their link.

"Fine," he snapped at her. He turned to Hermione. "You're hired. I expect you to begin sometime in the next week."

Hermione blinked at him in shock.

"Do you really have anything better to do now that you're free of the Resistance?" Holly asked.

"I was going to spend time catching up with you," Hermione commented.

"Don't worry. I'm planning on sticking around for the rest of the year," Holly said pleasantly. "I want to be on hand for extra protection. Just because I haven't shown off my magic doesn't mean I haven't used it; Voldemort and I duel weekly."

"I have to deal with you longer?" Voldemort asked in alarm.

"You lived with me while I was pregnant and hormonal and you were my only company. At least now I have other people to go bother. And I'm not pregnant and hormonal this time. I'll throw fewer vases at your head, that's for sure. Can I go back to torturing Towler now?" Holly asked, baring her teeth in a vicious smile towards the man pinned to the wall.

"We need to focus on finding Lucy," Voldemort reminded, his voice taking on a soothing tone he rarely had a reason to use. "Holly - Valerie - listen to me. You are the best general the Order of the Phoenix ever had for a reason. You may have been a Gryffindor, but you have the mind and cool logic of a Slytherin. Use it. Do not let your emotions rule your actions. You are better than that!"

Holly's eyes flashed. When she next spoke, it was in Parseltongue instead of English.

"He raped her, Tom. Her virginity was stolen from her in the most terrifying way possible. She will never forget that. She will always wonder whether she deserved it like he told her. She will always feel dirty inside, because a man like him took her. Trust me, I know," Holly hissed, dropping her head to her chest as her magic released the trembling man, who collapsed immediately to the ground.

Voldemort staked over to stand in front of Holly. He reached out and grasped her chin, raising her eyes to his. He flicked his fingers to raise a silencing barrier around them. His single question was in English.

"Who, Holly?"

She took a shaky breath.

"I was sixteen. Bellatrix and Rodolphus Imperiused some Muggle men," She said shortly. She forced her emotions behind her Occlumency walls, allowing the apathetic numbness to set in. "Clear the room of everyone uninvolved in the fight against the Resistance. Towler's mind showed no sign of conspirators, but that doesn't mean that other teachers are not involved. Dose their drinks with Veritaserum at dinner sometime. It's wonderfully effective."

"You've done it before?" Voldemort asked.

"Standard procedure in the Order. I dosed the food at least once a week. It's also a great opportunity for blackmail."

"I'll keep that in mind. Are you calm enough to go back to the meeting?"

Holly ignored the question.

"I think the majority of the people in here need to go," Holly said. "The only ones who need to know the full plan are you and I. The Malfoys, Lestrange, Zabini, Luna, and Hermione can be included more than the rest, as it affects them more than most. No one else should stay."

"Point," Voldemort conceded. He lowered the silencing barrier. "Lucius, Narcissa, Draco, Rabastan, Blaise, Luna, and Granger, stay. Everyone else, get out."

Grumbling started, but a glare from Voldemort shut them up quickly.

"Flint, Nott, lock Towler in the dungeons. Make sure he lives, but do not be afraid to show him our...hospitality," Voldemort instructed.

The pair nodded.

"If he does die, I'll take my frustrations out on you instead," Holy added sweetly, the look in her eyes and her bloodthirsty grin promising pain to the first person stupid enough to cross her.

The two men paled as they grabbed the prisoner and levitated him out of the room. They weren't careful about what they allowed him to run into either.

Voldemort sealed the door behind them and threw up a series of wards. Holly activated another set built into the Headmaster's office that Dumbledore had told her about by pushing down several bricks on the floor and walls in a certain order. The ancient silencing wards went up.

"I have been trying to figure out those wards for more than a decade, and you've been able to activate them all along?" Voldemort groaned.

"If I'd known you didn't know, I would have told you," Holly replied. "It's your fault for not telling me. If I'd known you didn't know, I would have told you."

"How do you know?" Hermione asked. "I thought only the Headmaster knew."

"I conducted far too many meetings in here for Dumbledore not to tell me, Holly replied. "Now, first things first. Kreacher!"

An ancient house-elf appeared beside her as she retook her seat at Voldemort's right hand.

"Mistress is calling Kreacher again? Oh, Kreacher is happy to be serving Mistress again instead of the filthy blood traitors? What is Mistress needing from Kreacher?"

"Kreacher, is the Resistance keeping a girl captive in my house? She has the black hair and grey eyes and bears a great resemblance to a young Bellatrix," Holly asked.

"Kreacher remembers seeing her. The filthy blood-traitors is keeping her in Master Sirius's room. Kreacher is being ordered to make sure she is fed. Does Mistress know filthy blood traitors' prisoner? They was saying she is being a Mudblood," the house-elf rambled.

"Yes, Kreacher, I know her. She is not a Mudblood. She is my daughter, and the Heiress of the House of Black. Are you capable of removing her from the House?"

The house-elf shook his head mournfully.

"No, Mistress. The filthy blood-traitors were putting up wards against it."

"Can you get us into the house secretly?" Holly pressed.

Kreacher nodded, his head bobbing energetically.

"Yes, Mistress. I is being able to take you now," he said.

"Not quite yet, Kreacher. I will call you when we are ready. Return to the house, and keep watch over my daughter. I want hourly updates on her condition, but do not let anyone be aware that you are leaving. Do not tell anyone you have seen me. Do not speak to my daughter as your Mistress. She is yet unaware of her heritage. Do not reveal yourself to be protecting her, but take care of her the best you can."

"Yes, Mistress," the house-elf said with a bow.

"You are dismissed," Holly said.

The house-elf popped away.

Holly let out a huff of air.

"I can see the gears turning, Holly," Voldemort said. "What sort of plan have you made?"

"Hermione, Luna, and I will go in and get Lucy out," Holly said firmly. "I could probably do it on my own, but they will be there in case we need to fight our way out, which we probably will. I can't get Lucy out and fight off the entire Order at the same time. I need you to coordinate a multi-pronged attack on the Resistance, so that they are unable to pursue us. For that, I need to know exactly which Order hideouts you have managed to infiltrate, and which you've managed to destroy. If there's anything I know about still around, you can attack those. We need to throw the Resistance off by hitting them with multiple blows all at once. The loss of their prisoner will be one. The attack on Ronald Weasley will be another."

"What's happening to the Weasel?" the younger Malfoy asked with interest.

Holly began examining her nails.

"Oh, just a poorly executed castration charm. Maybe more, depending on how much he annoys me. The real question will be whether he bleeds out from the charm before someone finds him," Holly said, a vicious smile on her face.

The men in the room shuddered while Narcissa, Hermione, and Luna smirked.

"Does that mean all the Death Eaters we found poorly castrated were your work?" Lucius asked palely.

"They were the Morrígan's work, yes," Hermione confirmed. "And each and every one of them was either a rapist or abusive. Sometimes both."

"Did Weasley rape her as well?" Voldemort growled.

"I don't know yet, but he was giving her the same looks he gave me before trying to make advances on me. I hexed him silly for that. I don't know what he'll do to a girl less than half his age who can't defend herself," Holly said coldly.

"I know several of the Resistance hideouts as well," Hermione put in. "I can tell you most of the newly established hideouts, but Valerie knows all the old ones. It was part of her job as general. There are still some showing up that I didn't know about."

Holly nodded.

"Dumbledore and I both knew nearly everything. He didn't know everything about the war plans, and I didn't know whatever he spent all of his time doing, but we were both very well informed otherwise. We both knew where all the hideouts and storage spaces were. We were keyed in to the wards of every Order member and supporter in Britain. We controlled half the wards in Britain at one point. Any place the Order ever knew, I can tell you."

Voldemort grimaced.

"I, for one, find it incredibly irritating that there are still places we haven't found after sixteen bloody years."

Holly smirked slightly.

"We were very good at hiding things. Well, Dumbledore and I were. We were the only two with Slytherin traits in the lot."

"That was a problem of having a following of mostly Gryffindors. Common sense and subtlety aren't exactly common traits," Hermione mentioned.

"Did you also get distracted often? I feel that you are all ADHD," Draco complained.

Everyone turned to stare at him.

"You know what ADHD is?" Holly asked after a shocked moment of silence.

"Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder," he replied. At her shocked look, he shrugged. "I spent two years undercover as a Muggle school teacher. As the new teacher, it was decided that I should get all the problem children."

Voldemort used the silence to Summon a map of Britain from one of the cabinets. He laid it across the desk and waved his wand over it. Tiny green Dark Marks appeared in different spots on the map.

"These are all the locations that we have found the Order or Resistance in," he stated.

Holly waved her own wand across the map, causing red dots to appear.

"These are all the locations I know of the Order being in."

Hermione also waved her wand over the map, adding orange stars.

"These are all the locations the Resistance is in."

There were several dozen red dots and orange stars not covered by Dark Marks. The Malfoys, Zabini, and Voldemort stared at the map.

"You lot were more effective than I thought," Voldemort stated, slightly shocked.

Holly shrugged.

"There was a reason we managed to hold Britain against you for seven years. Granted, it was much less effective once I 'died', but we did have brains," she stated.

"We kept your 'no quarter' policy towards all live combatants," Hermione added helpfully. "Dumbledore tried to stop it, but a good portion of us kept it, and the newer recruits joined in once they realized we were more effective. That's what gave us the extra two years before Hogwarts fell."

"You still lost," Voldemort pointed out.

"We expected to," Hermione said dismissively.

"How are we planning to get Lucinda back?" Draco asked impatiently.

Holly and Voldemort stared at each other for a moment.

"Potter, Lovegood, and Granger will penetrate the Order's Headquarters exactly five minutes past four this afternoon," Voldemort said.

"It's Potter again? Tom, I thought we were friends!" Holly said with forced dramatics.

He gave her a look. She shrugged.

"As owner of the residence, I can Apparate in, though only to the entrance hall. Kreacher will give me the all clear signal to go in, at which time I will send a mental message to Voldemort. We will then Apparate to the Order Headquarters while you all begin your attack," she said.

"When I receive Holly's message, I will send a message through the Dark Mark to begin the attack. It will be a four-part attack. I will attack the largest base that is known. Zabini will lead an attack on the largest storage center. Lucius and Rabastan will also be leading separate attacks on other bases," Voldemort added.

"It will take us anywhere between three and five minutes, depending on the level of resistance we face. Hermione will be uncloaked. Luna will use Fae magic to become invisible. I will be under my Invisibility Cloak," Holly stated.

"Moody can see through an invisibility cloak," Lucius objected.

Holly smirked.

"Not my Cloak. Not Death's Cloak."

Dumbledore had spilled the beans about the Potter family Cloak when Valerie was eighteen. This was about the same time that she acquired the Elder Wand after finally defeating Dumbledore in a duel. Valerie had sworn to not go looking for the last of the Deathly Hallows, but she had accidentally acquired the Resurrection Stone when Voldemort asked her to guard the Gaunt Ring during her sojourn in the Muggle World. So far, she had found no benefits to the arrangement of being Death's apparent "Master".

Voldemort nodded, confirming her story. After Holly had informed him of her accidental ascension to the "Master of Death" title, he had done everything in his power to spot her while under the Cloak. Everything had failed. Since that time, he had borrowed the Cloak on occasion, but usually left it with Holly so that she could use it if she needed to escape.

"Mad-Eye can't see Wrackspurts either," Luna added helpfully. "They make his brain just as fuzzy as everyone else's."

Holly nodded. She already knew that. Moody's magic eye had few limitations, but Fae magic was one of them.

"Lucius, you will take a team and attack here," Voldemort ordered, tapping a Resistance mark near Dorchester. "Rabastan, your team will go to Caernarfon and attack the Resistance there. I will be leading the attack at Inverness. Take teams of forty. Do not tell them the rest of the plan. All of you out."

Everyone began filing out.

"Draco, stay behind," Voldemort added as an afterthought.

The younger blond stepped out of the way of the rest of those filing out. Eventually, Holly, Draco and Voldemort were the only ones in the room.

Voldemort stared at the two of them for a moment before saying, "I believe you two have a great deal to speak of. Do not be late."

He stalked out of the room, sealing the door behind him.

There was a long silence as Draco and Holly avoided looking at one another.

Finally, Draco broke and said, "I am glad to see you well, Valerie."

"Don't, Draco," Holly replied dully. "Don't speak to me as if nothing happened. You must be furious with me."

"Somewhat," Draco agreed, "but an hour ago I thought you were dead. Dead, Valerie. Gone forever. The one person I ever loved, and you died after my last words to you were, 'I hate you.'"

Holly froze. "The - the only person?"

Draco nodded solemnly. "Only you."

There was another long, awkward silence before Holly said, "I suppose I should tell you: you have two children."

Draco snorted. "Thanks, I kind of figured that out. Were you ever going to tell me?"

"Personally, no. I was under an Unbreakable Vow not to reveal my magic or identity, but there are ways around that. Once the twins had graduated, I was going to tell them you were their father and give them a letter for you. The letter would say that I hoped you could figure out who I was on your own, but to ask Voldemort for confirmation," Holly replied simply.

"Would he have told me?" Draco asked curiously.

Holly shrugged. "Hopefully, he would have told you simply because he was excited to finally get the twins' father's name out of me. By the way, Voldemort is the twins' godfather."

Draco immediately began choking on air. Holly calmly patted his back and conjured a glass of water for him to drink.

Once he had gulped it down, he asked, "I'm sorry, but did you just say that the _Dark Lord_ was the twins' godfather?"

"Yes," Holly nodded. "He was my only company for the greater part of my pregnancy, and he was there for the birth. He had also already sworn to protect my children as I could not, so I decided to simply make him the godfather. Brax is named after him too."

"Why did you name them the way you did?" Draco asked, eyes curious with a glimmer of suspicion in them.

"You don't know their full names. _They_ don't know their full names. Our son is Thomas Cedric Sirius Abraxas Potter-Black-Malfoy, and our daughter is Lucinda Sara Luna Hermione Potter-Black-Malfoy. Thomas for Voldemort, Cedric for Cedric Diggory, Sirius for my godfather, Abraxas for your grandfather. Lucinda was named for your father, Sara for one of my favorite books, and I know you recognize Luna and Hermione," Holly said.

"And you're Valerie Lillian Potter-Black-Malfoy," Draco said firmly.

Holly started.

"Excuse me?"

Draco's face turned slightly sheepish.

"Do you remember the ritual we did before the first time we slept together?"

Holly nodded sharply.

"That was a partnership bond. It's the lesser form of a marriage bond. It makes all children born to parents under the partnership bond legitimate, and counts as a marriage, until one or both of the partners enter formal marriage bonds," Draco admitted. "So, we're sort-of married."

She stared at him for a long moment.

"When were you planning on telling me this?"

Draco winced almost imperceptibly.

"When we were no longer on opposite sides?"

Holly sighed. "I should probably yell at you, but I'm actually too stressed to do that right now. And I think your mother will take care of that for me. How about this: once Lucy is rescued and the attacks on the Resistance complete, I will tell our children about myself and you while you tell your parents about me and our children."

"My mother is going to kill me," Draco groaned. "Very well. Deal."

Voldemort chose that moment to poke his head in.

"Are you two done making nice yet? You have a daughter that needs to be rescued from the clutches of the vile Resistance."

Holly stared at him for a moment.

"Have you been near strange potions fumes recently? You're remarkably chipper."

Voldemort glared witheringly.

"I just found out that I not only have the best general of the Wizarding War on my side, but I've recruited one of the Resistance's top agents and now have the Order's infamous trio of assassins on my side. Lucy will be home shortly, and you've rejoined the Wizarding World, which you honestly should have done years ago. I am in a perfectly normal mood."

"I disagree, but we have better things to be doing than arguing. Are the teams assembled?" Holly asked, returning to a cool business tone.

"They will be by the time you and your friends survey the wards and guards on the Order headquarters," Voldemort drawled. "May I assume that it is younger Mr. Malfoy who has your necklace?"

Holly looked at Draco.

"I do," Draco nodded. "Would you like me to retrieve it for her, my Lord?"

Voldemort looked at Holly.

"Would a Death Eater attack on the Order's Headquarters aid your escape?"

Holly sighed. "We should probably have the option, though I'd rather not destroy it. It is my house, and it does have quite a few valuables in it. Speaking of valuables, you and I need to go to Gringotts so that I can have my vaults back."

"What happened to them?" Draco asked curiously.

"The goblins have been holding my accounts in abeyance until I return personally to claim them or Brax and Lucy come of age. Tom here is the one monitoring the accounts until then. He's been receiving my bank statements and managing my investments, and the last I'd heard he was doing a good job of it," Holly said, looking towards the Dark Lord.

He waved his hand in dismissal.

"You were filthy rich before, you're even richer now. Between the multitude of fortunes your children are inheriting, they can spend ten thousand galleons a day and their great-grandchildren still won't have to work a day of their lives. Don't worry about it."

"It can wait until after we have Lucy back anyway," Holly said firmly. "We have our plan. Are the Death Eaters in position?"

"They are waiting to leave," Voldemort promised. "Granger and Lovegood are waiting for you just outside. As soon as you're ready, I will lower the Apparition wards so that you can Apparate directly from my office. Draco, you will also Apparate directly from here to wherever you have hidden Holly's necklace. Once you have retrieved it, return here and wait for me to call for you. If Holly needs me to enter the Fidelius Charm, having me hold the necklace while she tells me the Secret through our bond should be effective."

"I'm ready," Holly stated firmly. She looked first Voldemort, then Draco, in the eye.

"I'll bring her home," she swore. "I'll bring our Lucy home."


	2. Rescue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The rescue of Lucinda Hart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back after a year of writer's block on this!

As soon as Draco and Voldemort left the Headmaster’s office, Hermione and Luna walked in.  Both already had their hoods up and their wands in hand.  The obscuring charms on the hoods of the cloaks hid their faces, adding to the mystery of the assassins’ appearance.

“Orders?” Hermione asked curtly.

“Kreacher!” Valerie called.

The house-elf appeared instantly.

“Mistress is calling Kreacher?” he croaked.

“Kreacher, what is the Order of the Phoenix doing right now?” Valerie asked.

“Most of the filthy blood traitors is gone to bed, Mistress.  They’s leaving the nasty Weasel boy and the nasty Weasel girl watching Missy Black.  They’s staying out of her room though.  Kreacher’s be adding house-elf wards so they’s not be coming in, and Kreacher’s be making sure Missy Black had good food that the nasty Order members wasn’t touching,” the house-elf reported.

“Thank you, Kreacher,” Valerie said.  “How is she?”

“She’s be crying, Mistress.  She’s being hurt.  Kreacher is tryings to help her, but Missy Black wouldn’t let Kreacher.  She’s being scared, she’s being very, very scared,” Kreacher croaked.

“Has anyone from the Order touched her?” Valerie asked quietly.

“The nasty Weasel boy tried, but Missy Black was stopping him,” Kreacher reported.  “He’s be trying again, but he’s not be getting past Kreacher’s wards.”

“Thank you, Kreacher,” Valerie sighed.  “You’re dismissed.  Be aware that Hermione, Luna, and I will be entering the house shortly to rescue Lucy.  Anything you can do to help us would be appreciated.”

“Kreacher wills be watching,” the old house-elf promised before disappearing.

Valerie looked over at her friends.  They had their plan.  They were as prepared as they could be.

“Ready?” she asked simply.

Both women nodded in reply.  Valerie pulled out her Invisibility Cloak and threw it over herself.  Luna cast her Fae magic.  Hermione Disillusioned herself.

Valerie reached out and grabbed both of their arms before Apparating into the foyer of Number 12, Grimmauld Place.

Since it was her house, and she ridiculously overpowered the Apparition, their entrance to the house was near-silent.  Unfortunately, there was a cluster of people in the foyer.  One person was apparently sensitive enough to notice the magical displacement caused by their appearance.  His head snapped up and he looked directly at them.

“What is it, Terry?” an Asian woman asked.  Valerie tentatively identified her as Su Li, who’d been a Ravenclaw in her year, which made the man Terry Boot from the same house.

“Someone just Apparated in,” Terry said in a low voice.  “Who’s there?” he demanded loudly.

Valerie, Hermione, and Luna near-simultaneously let out a string of spells, Stunning all five people and Silencing the sound of their bodies hitting the floor before any of them could move to counter them.

“I’ll Disillusion them and take care of anyone who comes this way,” Luna said quietly.  “You two go find her.”

Valerie tapped Luna’s arm in acknowledgment, then Hermione’s twice in a silent command to come with her.  They made their way up the stairs on silent feet.  On the second floor, they had to press themselves against the wall in order to avoid running into two conversing Order members – Emmeline Vance and Hannah Abbott.  On the third floor, they passed an open doorway to a bedroom where Sturgis Podmore and Parvati Patil were snogging passionately.  

On the fourth floor, Valerie asked, “Isn’t he married?”

“Not to her,” Hermione confirmed.

Just as Kreacher had reported, the only two people outside the fifth-floor room where Lucy was being kept were Ron and Ginny Weasley.

Valerie grimaced at the sight of them.  Neither had aged well.  Ron’s teenage gangliness had been overcome by his ever-empty stomach and his mother’s overenthusiastic cooking.  He now possessed enough blubber to make Vernon Dursley proud.  Ginny, on the other hand, wore too much makeup and little enough clothing that Valerie was surprised that Mrs. Weasley let her be seen out in public that way.  The woman had nearly had a fit of apoplexy when Valerie dared to wear a knee-length sundress while staying with the Weasleys one summer.  The blue eyeshadow and bright red lipstick clashed horribly with her frizzy red hair.

“Come on, Gin,” Ron was whining.  “Ten minutes.  That’s all I need.”

“That’s all it’ll take, you mean,” Ginny said scathingly.  “And no.  Death Eater bitch or not, we have to leave her alone until after the meeting.”

Valerie cast a quick Silencing Charm around the entire floor, then Stunned Ginny. 

“Ginny!” Ron yelled as she fell to the floor.  He pulled his wand out and looked around angrily.  “Who’s there?  What did you do to my sister?”

“Oh no, Ronald,” Valerie said, her voice quiet but menacing.  She’d picked that trick up from Voldemort.  “It’s not your sister you should be worried about.”

She unclasped her Invisibility Cloak and let it fall to the ground.

Ron’s eyes widened, and he pointed his wand at her. 

“Don’t move!” he ordered.  “I’ll…I’ll…”

Any further conversation was cut off when Hermione – still Disillusioned – cast a silent Full Body-Bind.

“You’ll do nothing,” Valerie said firmly.  “Except perhaps suffer.  You tried to rape her, didn’t you?  But Ginny wanted you to wait until after the meeting.  No matter.  Neither of you will be touching her.”

“Who are you?” Ron croaked.  Hermione had apparently not Petrified his mouth.

“I am the Blood Crow, Badb of the Morrígan.  I am the Cloak-Bearer, Stone-Keeper, Wand-Wielder.  I am the Mistress of Death.  Most importantly, I am the mother of Lucinda Hart.  But you, Ronald Bilius Weasley, you would remember me as Valerie Lillian Potter.  And I have come to reclaim my child.”

“That’s impossible!” Ron nearly yelled as Valerie lowered the hood of her red cloak.  “Valerie’s dead!  She’s been dead for years!  Voldemort killed her!”

“Voldemort saved me, and my children,” Valerie said calmly.  “I chose them over the war once before.  I choose them over the Order once more.  For daring to touch what wasn’t yours, for attempting to force yourself on an unwilling innocent, Ronald Weasley, you deserve everything that is coming to you.”

She strode past him and to the door of the room even as Ron cried out, presumably from the castration curse that Hermione cast. 

The door opened at her touch, as all doors in Grimmauld Place did, but she didn’t enter quite yet.  She pulled the silver-and-gold braided ring out of her pocket and slid it onto her finger.  She pulled a strand of hair over her shoulder to ensure that it was blonde, not black.

“Valerie?” Hermione asked in a low voice. 

Valerie glanced over her shoulder.  Her friend was still invisible.

“Lucy wouldn’t recognize Valerie Potter,” she said quietly.  “I need to be Holly Hart right now.”

She pushed open the door.

Lucy was curled up in a ball in the far corner of the room.  She flinched when the door squeaked.

“Please, just let me go,” she cried.  “I want to go home!”

Valerie looked back at Hermione.

“Guard the door,” she said quietly.  “This might take a bit.”

She slowly moved forward into the room and closed the door behind her.  The room had been stripped of all its furnishings, but the Muggle pictures of motorcycles and girls were still on the walls where Sirius had applied the Permanent Sticking Charms, though they were looking a bit tattered now.

“Lucy, sweetheart,” she said gently.  “Look at me, baby.”

“Mum?” Lucy asked brokenly, looking up with watery grey eyes.

“Yes, it’s me, baby,” Holly said, kneeling next to her daughter, though she didn’t dare try to touch her yet.

“But…you can’t be Mum.  You have a wand.  Mum’s not a witch,” Lucy asked in confusion.

“I am a witch, sweetheart.  I was under magical oath not to reveal my magic.  But I am your mum, baby,” Holly said gently.

Lucy didn’t look very trusting at that.

Holly settled in a bit more comfortably on the dirty floor.

“When you were four years old,” she began, “your Uncle Tom got you a porcelain doll for your birthday.  She had black hair, and grey eyes, and had a green silk dress.  You named her Morgan.  You’d barely had her for an hour before you came to me, crying, because you’d broken the doll’s hand off.  You must’ve come to me every other day after breaking the poor doll.  I always managed to fix her though – the Mending Charm is a wonderful thing.  Eventually, I just borrowed the doll one night and cast enough charms on her that you could run over her with a tank and she’d still be in one piece.”

Lucy’s eyes widened slightly.  She looked slightly more hopeful now.

“That same birthday, Tom got Brax a set of wooden toy soldiers.  Brax would line them up on the windowsill, the dresser, anywhere he could to stage battles.  He usually liked to pretend he was King Arthur, commanding his troops.  He always tried to convince you that your doll should be Morgan Le Fay so you could fight against each other,” Holly continued.

“You always let us use whatever magic spells we wanted, but not ‘Abracadabra,’” Lucy said slowly.  “Because that sounds like the Killing Curse.”

“That’s right,” Holly replied.  “I didn’t want you to accidentally kill each other.  I’ve never heard of it happening before, but your magic was powerful.  I didn’t want to take any chances.”

“We never really did much accidental magic,” Lucy said in confusion.

“I had to be fast about cancelling a lot of it,” Holly replied.  “You and your brother were Summoning bottles and toys to yourselves from the cradle.  One of you – I never figured out which – turned my hair purple when you were two.  I had to phone a friend for a rapid Obliviation when you turned Mrs. Rajpur into a duck while she was babysitting you while I took Brax to the dentist to get a cavity filled when you were seven.”

“So you always knew?” Lucy asked, uncurling from her self-made ball a bit.

“Not always.  I didn’t know until I got my letter when I was eleven, same as you.”

“Does Uncle Tom know?”

“He does.  He’s a wizard too.  You’ve actually spent a great deal of time with him.”

There was a moment of confusion before recognition lit up Lucy’s eyes.

“He’s Lord Voldemort?”

“He is,” Holly nodded with a smile.  She knew her daughter was brilliant.

“Mum?” Lucy asked, her voice cracking.

Holly nodded again, and was barely surprised when Lucy lunged for her, practically crawling into her lap as she cried.

Holly rocked her back and forth gently.

“Mummy’s here, Lucy baby.  Mummy’s got you.  No one else is going to touch you.  I’ve got you now.  You’re safe now.”

She continued the gentle litany as Lucy sobbed, petting the girl’s black curls as she tried to wedge her face into the crook of Holly’s shoulder.

Lucy’s sobs had mostly faded into quiet sniffles when the door burst open.  Lucy flinched violently into Holly, who already had her wand pointed in that direction with her right hand while her left cradled Lucy’s head. 

It was just Hermione, her Disillusionment Charm gone.  A flash of white behind her meant Luna was there as well.

“Time to go,” Hermione said grimly.  “Someone found the group in the foyer.  Luna wasn’t able to keep them all out before someone sounded the alarm.”

“Do you have something I can make into a Portkey?” Holly asked.

A shoe came flying into the room from where Luna was.

“I stole that off Ginny!” the blonde called cheerfully.

Holly picked up the neon-pink stripper heel by the back strap with a look of disgust. 

“It’s better than Ronald’s,” Hermione pointed out.

Holly grimaced, then tapped the shoe with her wand. 

 _“Portus,”_ she ordered.  “Everybody grab on.”

Lucy reached out from her position in Holly’s lap and grabbed the heel.  Hermione grabbed the top strap.  Luna moved forward to grab the toe.

“Professor Lovegood?” Lucy asked in wonderment. 

“Hello, Sara,” Luna said calmly.

“No time for chit-chat!” Hermione said, pointing her wand out the door with the hand that wasn’t holding the shoe and firing off a string of silent curses.  “Holly, go!”

“This first!” Holly cried.

Holly placed her wand on her shoulder and incanted, _“Cresce.”_   Her tattoo – kept glamoured for the past fifteen years, so her children wouldn’t see it – rose from her skin, burning with bright flames.  Holly pointed her wand at the far end of the room.  _“Ardere!”_ she ordered.  The phoenix flew past them, a brief warmth passing by their face, though none were burned.  It let out a fierce cry as it burned itself into the wall.

“Holly!” Hermione shouted.

Holly turned from her handiwork back to the matter at hand, though she vaguely felt the warmth of the phoenix resettle into her skin.

“Princess,” Holly ordered as she tapped the Portkey with her wand, using the same password that Voldemort had used for Snape to bring her to Hogwarts.  It was the name he always used for Lucy, after all.

There was a whirl of color, and they landed in the Hospital Wing.  Holly ended up sprawled on the floor with Lucy on top of her, looking green.

“I hate Portkeys,” she groaned.

“They hate me too,” Holly commiserated.

Luna and Hermione had both landed on their feet and were already in the middle of casting a veritable slew of privacy charms around the bed in the far corner of the room. 

“I’ll find Healer Abbott,” Luna said once they were done.  “Holly, will you let the Lord know we’re back?  Your Patronus might make the Resistance worry.”

“Wonderful idea,” Holly said as she carefully helped Lucy to her feet before pulling herself up.  She guided Lucy over to the bed.  Hermione was there too, but she was careful to keep a distance from the traumatized teenager.

“Lucy, you know Professor Lovegood, obviously.  This is Hermione Granger, one of my very best friends.  I trust her completely, and I swear to you that she will never harm you,” Holly said firmly.  “Will you trust her to help me guard you?”

Lucy hesitated, scooting closer to Holly, but still nodded.

“Don’t leave?” she asked in a small voice.

Holly pressed a kiss to the top of her daughter’s head.

“I won’t.”

She pulled out her wand and ordered, _“Expecto Patronum!”_  

The silver phoenix erupted from her wand.  It had changed from her father’s Animagus form to her own when she was seventeen, around the same time the newspapers had started calling her the ‘Lady Phoenix’ in response to her repeatedly living through Voldemort’s attempts to kill her.

“Find Voldemort and tell him that she’s safe now,” Holly ordered.  The phoenix nodded regally and flew out of the room, presumably towards Inverness.

“The Patronus Charm is supposed to be one of the most difficult there is,” Lucy breathed in shocked awe.

“It’s not as difficult as the books make it out to be,” Holly assured.  “I can teach you how to do it, once you’re recovered.”

Lucy flinched and looked down at her battered and bruised body.

“Mum…Professor Towler…he…”

“I know, sweetheart,” Holly said gently, reaching out to cup her daughter’s chin.  “I know what he did.  He’s in the dungeons for it.  He’ll never leave them alive.”

Tears began welling in Lucy’s eyes once more.

“I didn’t want…”

“I know,” Holly said, reaching out to pull her daughter into another tight embrace.  “I know how much it hurts.  I’ve been there.  But Lucy-love?  It does get better.  I promise you, it might not feel like it can right now, but it does get better.  Now, let’s get you over to the bed so that Healer Abbott can check you over once she gets here.”

Hermione hovered nearby, but didn’t touch as Holly gently settled her daughter onto the stark white hospital bed.

“I never liked these beds,” Holly commented lightly.  “I was in here a lot when I was at Hogwarts, and even after, during the war.  Madam Pomphrey, the Mediwitch back then, actually had my name carved into one of the beds.  She said it was that or start charging me rent.”

“You fought in the war?  Is that why you left?” Lucy asked.

“I fought in the war,” Holly confirmed.  “I left because I found out I was pregnant with you in your brother after being captured by Death Eaters.  Voldemort offered me a deal – the chance to raise you two in exchange for leaving the Wizarding World – and I took it.  We both swore a magical oath – me to never reveal my magic or identity, and him to protect you two.  When he broke that oath when you were kidnapped, I was allowed to come back to my name and the Wizarding World.”

“What’s your real name?” Lucy asked.  “Not Holly Hart?  Does that mean Brax and I aren’t Harts either?”

“No, you’re not,” Holly said gently.  She held up her hand to display her ring.  “Have you noticed that I never take this off?”

Lucy nodded in confusion.  “I thought it was your wedding ring from Dad.”

“No,” Holly sighed.  “Your father and I were never properly married.  We had a magical partnership bond, but we were only nineteen and on opposite sides of the war.  He was – and still is – a Death Eater, and I was a member of the Order of the Phoenix.  He never gave me a ring.  This ring is what I use to anchor the glamour charms on me, that make me look like Holly Hart.”

She pulled off the ring and felt her appearance shimmer into her natural one.  This was the second time she’d assumed it in twenty-four hours, which was more than she had worn it in the past fifteen years.

“This is what I really look like,” she said, extending her arms so Lucy got a good view.

“You look like a pureblood,” Lucy said quietly.

“Half-blood, but you and your brother would count as first-generation purebloods.  My father and your father were both from old pureblood lines, but my mother was Muggle-born,” Holly said, equally quietly.  She could see Lucy attempting not to sleep.  “Don’t fall asleep quite yet, darling.  Healer Abbott will want to run some diagnostics, and probably shove some potions down your throat first.”

“That would be correct, Lady Potter-Black,” Hannah Abbott said as she entered the hospital wing, Luna at her heels.  “Hello, Miss Hart.  We’re all very glad you’re safe.  May I cast a few diagnostic spells on you?”

Lucy nodded slowly.  As Hannah began casting, she looked back at Valerie.

“Lady Potter-Black?”

“My full name is Valerie Lillian Potter-Black, Lady of the Ancient and Most Noble Houses of Potter and Black,” Valerie said quietly.  “Recent history remembers me as the Girl-Who-Lived, who survived Voldemort’s Killing Curse as a baby and went on to lead the Order of the Phoenix during the Second Wizarding War as Lady Phoenix until my supposed death sixteen years ago.”

“When you found out you were pregnant with us?”  Lucy asked.

“That’s right,” Valerie said.  “No one but Tom – Voldemort – knew I was alive.  Well, Lucius Malfoy might’ve, but he never said anything.”

“We were all quite shocked,” Hannah said.  “Usually, when the Dark Lord announces someone as dead, they don’t come back again.”

Valerie shrugged.

“What can I say?  I’ve survived four – no, five – Killing Curses from the Dark Lord, and over a dozen to-the-death duels.  Not to mention every time we’ve practice-dueled since I went into hiding.  But we weren’t actually trying to kill each other then.  Just get a good workout.”

Hannah blinked at her for a moment before going back to looking over Lucy’s results.

“Well, it looks like you’re going to need some Bruise Balm and Star Grass Salve, as well as a Rape Recovery Potion.  I’d like to give you a Calming Draught as well, and then some Dreamless Sleep potion before you go to bed.  May I help you apply the salves, or would you like your mother to do it?” she asked calmly.

“Mum,” Lucy said in a small voice. 

“Very well,” Hannah said.  “Lady Potter-Black, I presume you know how, after how much time you spent in here as a child.”

“I do,” Valerie said calmly.  “And Valerie is fine, Healer Abbott.”

“You may call me Hannah then,” the healer replied.  “We were friends once, weren’t we?  Hermione and I will stay right outside.”

“Thank you,” Valerie said, accepting the two jars of salve, the Calming Draught, and the dark, sparkling potion that she knew would heal any interior damage that Towler had caused her daughter.

Hermione and Hannah left and close the curtains behind them.

“Take the potion first,” Valerie said gently, handing it over to Lucy.  “It doesn’t taste half as terrible as some of the other things in here.”

Lucy popped the cork off and downed the potion in one gulp, which was honestly the best way to drink potions.  As a whole, they tended to taste awful.

“It tastes like peppermint,” Lucy said in surprise.

“Mm-hmm,” Valerie said.  “Now this one.”

She passed over the turquoise potion, and Lucy swallowed it just as quickly.  Valerie immediately saw her daughter relax as the Calming Draught soothed her.

“I’ll need you to take you robes off so that I can apply the Bruise Balm and Star Grass Salve,” Valerie said gently.  “You don’t have to rush; you can take as much time as you need.  I’m not going to force you to hurry, but you do need to take them off so I can help you feel better.”

Lucy hesitated, but slowly unclasped her school robes and shrugged them off.  Valerie waved her wand and Banished them to the laundry.  If the house-elves couldn’t salvage them, they’d let her know.

“Can you Vanish my stockings?” her daughter asked in a small voice.  “I think they’re ruined.”

Lucy’s shoes had disappeared somewhere between Towler’s office and Grimmauld Place, and the stockings she wore underneath them were ripped in multiple places.  A few scrapes and bruises could be seen through the holes.

“That’s all right,” Valerie said comfortingly.  “I must’ve gone through a new pair every week when I was in school.  Eventually Hermione told me to just go back to socks unless it was a special occasion.  But honestly,” she said, lowering her voice conspiratorially, “half the time I just didn’t bother wearing knee-socks _or_ stockings.  I got this wonderful pair of dragon-hide boots for my birthday that came halfway up my calves, so I just wore short stocks with them and escaped the teachers’ notice by keeping my school robes on.”

She waved her wand and Vanished the stockings.  Lucy flinched, but Valerie pretended not to notice.   Lucy pulled her tie off and began slowly unbuttoning her blouse.  Valerie opened the Star Grass Salve and Bruise Balm and began treating the minor wounds on Lucy’s legs.

By the time Lucy had stripped down to her underwear, Valerie had finished treating her legs and was working on her arms.  It only took a few more minutes to finish covering all of her wounds in some kind of salve.

“Will you be alright if I poke my head out and ask Healer Abbott for hospital pajamas?” Valerie asked.

“You’re not leaving?” Lucy asked in a small voice.

“I won’t leave the room,” Valerie promised.

Lucy hesitated, then nodded.

Valerie stuck her head out of the curtains and looked around for Hannah.  She didn’t see her, but Hermione was still standing there.

“Could you find a set of hospital pajamas for Lucy to wear?” she asked.  “I want to give her the Dreamless Sleep as soon as possible.  Even with the Calming Draught, she’s still pretty anxious.”

“I’ll look,” Hermione promised.  “I doubt Hannah’s changed too much around here.”

Sure enough, Hermione found pajamas in the same cabinet Pomphrey had always kept them in. 

“What size?” she called out.

“Adult small, or would you like something baggier?” Valerie asked Lucy quietly.

“Small’s fine,” Lucy replied.

“Small,” Valerie called to Hermione.

The black-cloaked woman brought the pajamas over and handed them to Valerie.  Valerie closed the curtain and took the clothes over to Lucy.

“Do you want help?” she asked.

“I can do it,” Lucy insisted.  Slowly but surely, the traumatized teen got the pajamas on. 

“Ready?” Valerie asked.

Lucy nodded slowly.

Valerie opened the curtain.  Hermione was still waiting just outside it.  Hannah was fixing something in one of the cabinets.

“Could you administer the Dreamless Sleep now?” Valerie called to Hannah.

“Of course,” Hannah said, pulling the potion out.  She was making her way over to them when the door swung open. 

Lucy flinched.

“Voldemort!” Valerie scolded.  It was Voldemort, in full Dark-Lordly glory, black robes looking suspiciously wet.

“No blood near my patients,” Hannah said, seemingly automatically.

Voldemort looked down at his robes and sighed before waving his wand at them.  They vanished, presumably banished to the laundry.  Under the robes, he was dressed simply in a dark tunic and pants.  His snake-faced glamour faded away into the more familiar face of Tom.

“Lucy,” he said, moving quickly towards her, though he stopped a few feet from the bed at Valerie’s warning look.  “I’m so sorry.  This is all my fault.”

“Uncle Tom?” Lucy asked in a small voice.

“It’s me, Lucy, princess,” Tom said soothingly.  He reached out a hand toward her, and when she didn’t flinch away, moved closer until she could take his hand in hers.  He Conjured a chair beside her bed.

“I’m so sorry, princess,” he repeated.  “We found you as fast as we could.”

“It’s not your fault,” Lucy said quietly.  “I should have been more careful.”

“None of this was your fault, Lucinda,” Valerie said firmly.  “You were with your professor.  You were supposed to be safe there.”

“If anything, it _is_ my fault for not keeping a closer eye on our professors.  I should have better interrogated them to ascertain where their loyalties truly lie,” Tom said.

“Why did you never tell us?” Lucy asked him.  “That you were Uncle Tom _and_ Lord Voldemort?”

Tom was silent for a long minute.

“You weren’t ready,” he finally said.  “Your mother planned to make sure you found out about your ancestry one day, but not until you were old enough to take her titles without anyone questioning whether or not she was alive.  If you had found out before your seventeenth birthdays, then claiming your inheritance would have marked you as the Heirs, not as the emancipated Lord and Lady.  Everyone would have known that your mother was alive, which was something that I, as the ruler of the Wizarding World, could not allow.”

“If I was revealed to be alive by anyone but Voldemort, then I would be seen as a symbol of hope for the rebellion,” Valerie said.  “There are a lot of people out there who have accepted Voldemort’s rule that would start fighting again in my name.  The phoenix must rise.  Isn’t that right, Hannah?”

All eyes turned to the healer, who raised her wand to her shoulder and ordered, _“Cresce.”_   A phoenix rose from her shoulder, just like Valerie’s, though the coloring was different.  Valerie’s tattoo was bright reds and oranges and golds.  This phoenix was black and dark red, with bright green eyes.

Hermione and Luna both tapped their shoulders as well, ordering, _“Cresce.”_   Identical phoenixes rose from their own shoulders.

Valerie glanced over at Tom, who looked curious.  She smiled mischievously and pointed her wand up towards where she knew the center of Hogwarts to be.

 _“Ardesigna!”_ she cried.  The three phoenixes joined together in a blaze of fire and shot through the ceiling.

Tom looked over at her and scowled at her mischievous smile.

“What did you do?” he asked.

“Look at the window,” Valerie recommended.

The Dark Lord stalked over to the window and looked out.  He had to crane his neck in order to see where it had gone.

“Valerie!” he yelled.  “Why is there a phoenix over my castle?!”

“What better way to announce my return?” Valerie asked innocently.  From beside her, she heard Lucy giggle. 

“I was thinking the _Daily Prophet_ ,” Tom said with gritted teeth, stalking over to her. 

Valerie patted his arm.

“You know as much as I do that this needs to be a symbol.  I burned my phoenix into the walls of the room they were keeping Lucy in.  Now I have it hanging over Hogwarts, as large as the Dark Mark you cast over London my sixth year.  Everyone in Hogwarts will have seen it.  The entire Wizarding World will know within the hour.  The Resistance will know that my allegiance is here.  We can do the paper interview tomorrow, and it can be the front-page article the next day.”

She turned to her daughter.

“Are you ready to take your potion?”

Lucy nodded.

Hannah handed the vial over to Lucy, who uncorked it, but paused before she drank it.

“You won’t leave me alone?” she asked in a small voice.

“I won’t be here the whole time,” Valerie admitted.  “I need to talk to your brother.  But I promise that you will never be alone.  Either Luna, Hermione, your Uncle Tom, or I will be here at all times.”

“And I’ll be safe?” Lucy asked, voice almost pleading for confirmation.

Valerie reached out and brushed her hair away from her face before placing a kiss on her forehead.

“You will be safe here, my Lucinda.  You have the most powerful witches and wizards in the world guarding you.”

Lucy closed her eyes and took a deep breath before gulping down the Dreamless Sleep potion.  She was out a minute later.

“I’ll sit with Sara,” Luna said, planting herself in the chair by Lucy’s bed.  “Valerie, you should go find Cedric.  Hermione, you and the Lord need to go get your teaching contract ironed out.”

“He’s not _my_ Lord,” Hermione grumbled, but she nodded in agreement before grabbing Tom by the elbow.  “Come on, Voldemort.  Your office.”

Valerie had to try not to laugh at the face Tom made as he applied his Voldemort glamour.

“You might not want to go out as Badb,” Luna pointed out.

“I don’t actually have other clothes,” Valerie replied.  “Kessy!” she called out.

“Missy Valerie!” the house-elf exclaimed as she appeared.  “Kessy has been missing Missy Valerie!  What can Kessy be’s doing for you?”

“Could you fetch my phoenix robes from my room at Voldemort’s manor?” Valerie asked, a small smirk on her face. 

“Kessy will!” the house-elf exclaimed before popping away.

Valerie looked over at Luna, who’s eyes had widened before a similar smirk came onto her face.

“You’re certainly going to make an entrance,” Luna commented.

“If I’m going to make an entrance, I’m going to make an _entrance_ ,” Valerie confirmed.

Kessy popped back in with the robes hovering on a hanger behind her, a box in her arms.

“Would Missy Valerie be liking the hairpiece too?” she asked, holding out the box to Valerie.

Valerie knelt to accept it.

“Thank you, Kessy.  I very much would.  You’re dismissed.”

Kessy burst into tears as she popped away.

Valerie stood and examined the robes before her.  The triple-layered red-orange-gold robes were what she had worn to her first and only meeting of the Wizengamot before she had to start attending via mirror due to the danger she was in.  Combined with the gold hairpiece that took up the entire right side of her head, it made a stunning picture.

“No shoes?” Hannah asked.

Valerie shrugged. 

“I’m wearing dragonhide boots.  They’ll work.”

She stepped behind another curtain and hurriedly changed into the robes – first the soft gold underlayer, which rose up to a high collar around her throat, but left her back completely bare.  The orange middle layer was likewise backless.  It had a full-length skirt with several cuts in the fabric that allowed the gold underlayer to flash if she moved too quickly.  The top was a deep V that plunged to her waist, allowing the cloth-of-gold to be clearly seen beneath the orange brocade.  The crimson outer robe was made from acromantula silk and embroidered with the faintest impressions of feathers.  It was the only part of the robes with a back.  A gold belt in the shape of a phoenix went over all three layers.  The ruby-eyed garter had belonged to the Potter family for centuries.

A few quick cosmetic charms cleaned face and applied foundation, concealer, and flame-colored eye shadow to match the robes.  Another charm pinned her hair back and allowed it to dangle over her left shoulder. 

Valerie then picked up the box Kessy had brought her and carefully lifted the gold hairpiece out of it.  Like the belt, it had been part of the Potter family for centuries.  Unlike the belt, she couldn’t put it in place on her own.

She pushed the curtain aside and walked out to where Luna and Hannah were talking.  Both looked up and stared.

“You look beautiful, Valerie,” Luna said firmly, standing to take the hairpiece from her hands.  She stood on her toes and carefully slid it into Valerie’s hair before casting a charm to make sure it remained in place.

“Like a princess,” Hannah agreed.  “You’ll certainly make an impression in the Great Hall.  No one really wears red anymore.  It’s too closely associated with the Order and the Resistance.”

“Well, red is _my_ color,” Valerie said proudly.  “Though green brings out my eyes.  But I am a _Gryffindor_ and a _Potter_ , and the Lady Phoenix.  I will wear red as often as I like.”

“You’d best get going,” Luna recommended.  “You’ll want some time to talk to Cedric before the Lord and Hermione are done.”

Valerie Conjured a mirror and looked herself over.

“Well, it’s now or never,” she said to herself before Vanishing the mirror and striding out of the hospital wing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This finishes up "Return," but there will be a third part of this series, "Reintegration," once I get around to writing it.


End file.
